Goodbye Dallas!

I finally worked up the courage to tackle my last post from my summer in Dallas. However, it has been three weeks since I left, so this might seem pointless to some.

My summer internship ended on a FABULOUS note. The last day I had to give my Pizza Friday presentation and I am happy to say that it went really well. I was a little nervous that I would rush through it too fast - that happens sometimes when I get too much adrenaline running during a presentation. I have to say God works in unexpected ways and he answered my prayers about not being nervous about my presentation and it going smoothly. When I started there were a lot of technical difficulties....first the laptop froze and then shut down completely - my boss gave me a hard time and said I broke it...haha then we got a new computer and it took FOREVER for my powerpoint file to appear and the mouse was too sensitive and it just started flying through my slides...then of course the sound wasn't working....but FINALLY it started and each time I clicked a link to online they wouldn't work so I had to refresh each page. Needless to say everyone had lots of laughs and my nerves were gone. I was really proud of myself to give a big presentation in front of very important people in both Numantra and TKMG.

Last day of internship!

At the end of my presentation, Elizabeth, the queen copywriter, said hold on we have a surprise. Suddenly she brought in a huge bag of sprinkles cupcakes (I'm sure you all know about my love hate relationship with that company...and fortunately at that moment I was in love) She went on to say how much everyone appreciated everything I did for them this summer and how much of a help I was and how sad they were to see me go. It was so sweet and so unexpected! Everyone was so good to me at Numantra and I am so grateful and blessed to have mentors like that this summer.

After Pizza Friday I was jam packed with meetings and brainstorming with the creative team...they sucked as much creativity out of me as they could before I left. I wasn't done with the last meeting until 6pm! An hour later than my usual time of leaving. The art director, Michelle, helped me get all my stuff on a cd for my portfolio...her and Elizabeth were so sweet to stay past 7pm to help me get all of that! I am also keeping in touch with them so I can get more stuff for my portfolio when they get them finished.


Before I left Numantra for the last time, I wanted Elizabeth and Michelle to know how much I appreciated everything they did for me this summer...so what did I get the day before as a gift??? SPRINKLES CUPCAKES! Geez do great minds think alike?? They were super pumped because all the sprinkles from the presentation were gone. Elizabeth gave me the sweetest card and let me know if I ever needed a reference she would love to write one for me. She was the best!!! Kevin from TKMG also let me know he would like to write a recommendation for me if I needed one...I was so fortunate to have that connection to him and that he led me to Numantra.

I put cute bows on the boxes...pink for Elizabeth and green for Michelle!

On the Saturday before I left I devised a plan to go to my cuz's house, Lindsay, and take pictures of my cousins with their husband/wife for a thank you for everything my Aunt and Uncle did for me this summer. I told Aunt Lori I was going to the gym early in the morning - she was a little confused because she knows I don't ever wake up early to go to the gym...but she bought it! I took the pictures of the cousins and headed back home. Aunt Lori had no idea what I was up to :) All the cousins ended up coming over for the afternoon so we could have one last day together before I left on Sunday. It was so much fun...Amanda helped me make cookies and I revealed the pictures after lunch and they loved them!

Amanda and Taylor 

Chewy and Linz

That evening I made my Aunt Lori an online portfolio for all of her party decor/invitations she makes. It's her passion, so I wanted to make something that she could send to her friends when they want her to throw a party! I took pics of her invitations and we made fun little sets for them!

I didn't get around to doing as much crafts as I planned on this summer, who knew having a job took up so much time?? Anyway, I am posting pictures of crafts.

KAO letters for the apartment and KAO door hanger for my future little sis :)

Hope you enjoyed my blog! Goodbye :)

Losing my mind, but gaining a sense of style.

Got the news yesterday that I will be presenting at our pizza friday this week. Pizza friday is when one of Numantra's top guys, Mike, informs everyone on what is going on in the advertising world. We usually get an update on what creative has been working on, advertising news, and then we get to watch some commercials (my favorite part).  So I worked on my pizza friday presentation ALL yesterday off in my little corner. My computer kept freezing though because the powerpoint file is so massive :( I was going to go with the usual template and keep it consistent with Mike's presentations, but then I decided it would be more entertaining if I switched it up and presented an intern edition. When I got home, Aunt Lori and my cuz Tanner were at the house. I just played and played with him until he had to go home. I don't know if I ate something spoiled or what yesterday, but I have been feeling achy and just sick all yesterday.

This morning got off to a rough start. I woke up still feeling sick. Last night I made a check list of things I needed for today and in the middle of doing all of that I lost my phone - it was such a hassle to find my iphone when it has a white cover and the carpet is light and my sheets are white. I gave up on my phone for a while and it was time to accessorize my outfit for today.  I decided to wear one of my favorite bracelets to work, but surprise surprise it wasn't in it's usual spot in the bathroom. My mind started to race and I remember at one point at the gym yesterday I thought it was bugging me. Unfortunately I couldn't remember if I took it off or not and I'm really bad about zipping up my backpack that I take to the gyms so I was worried it fell out...however since I couldn't find my phone I didn't know the number for the gym to call and ask if they had it. Luckily I thought to look in my bag for work and found it in an outside pocket...woooh what a relief! Ryan gave me that bracelet for my birthday a few years ago and I really didn't want to tell him I lost it :( So I guess I didn't think it was bugging me at the gym...it was bugging me at work. I ended up having to get the home phone to call my cell and somehow it ended up under one of my umbrellas in my room. If you know me - that is my biggest problem, losing things! I don't even want to give you a count of how many times I lose my phone/license/keys, etc. it's just too embarrassing!

Today I also work up a little later than usual, but fortunately I made it to work right on time just as everyone was walking into the morning meeting. I wanted to end my last week of my internship strong...but with the way I'm feeling, who knows if that is going to happen. I brought my macbook to work today because I need to get some serious stuff done on this pizza friday presentation...geez I hate giving presentations, but I guess it's good practice for the real world. (Although, come on I got an A in public speaking so this can't be too tough :))

Right now I am looking up stock images for an annual report that is in the works for one of our clients...this is definitely not my favorite thing to do and it would be done by a graphic designer intern...oh if only we had one :( But the images need to be found so we can have an idea of what the layout will be and the mood of it before we start the copy. I wrote headline options for the different annual reports that were pitched to the client and they chose my favorite :) The art director did a lovely job on the design...now we just need to fill it with copy!

I am taking lunch soon and can't believe after today I only have two days left at Numantra and will be leaving on Sunday for Houston. But that is when I need to get tons of stuff home aka get my car to the shop to fix and get ready to move back to the lbk!

I am following over 20 blogs now and I took this quiz on one of the blogs and thought it was a fun little thing to do if you want to find out what type of decorating style you have...this could be helpful for those like me moving to a new place this next year.

These are my results:

The verdict is in—your style is Glamour. Glamour is the penthouse with a view, the Old Hollywood mansion, the home of the connoisseur. A knowing marriage of fashion with sumptuous comfort. A fearless blending of Art Déco, Chippendale, and Modern. Glamour is shamelessly smart, elegant, and timeless.

However, the quiz did say or you might also like the loft style...I think the loft style is more me...so these are the types of looks I would like to accomplish in my loft/cottage/spa styled room this year :)

Oh so relaxing and inviting.

Here is the quiz if you want to try it out! What is my style?

On another blog I found some delicious looking cookies and I think I am going to try the recipe soon...my whole Dallas family is going to be over on Saturday so I think I should try it out then :)

Here is the recipe if you would like to try them too!

chocolate puddle cookies
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks
3 c icing sugar (aka powdered sugar)
2/3 c cocoa
1/2 t fine sea salt
1 c each of roasted sunflower seeds, cocoa nibs, & toasted almonds (chopped)
4 large egg whites
1 t vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mix together icing sugar, cocoa, and salt using a wooden spoon. Add in nuts, seeds and nibs. In a small bowl, stir together the egg whites and vanilla and then pour into the nut/cocoa/sugar mixture. Give everything a good stir until everything is well combined.

Line cookie sheets (preferably walled) with parchment or silpat and then drop batter using a tablespoon. Make sure that there is at least 2 inches between each cookie and that you have no more than 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes. You will know that they are ready when the cookies lose their shine and become matte. Use a spatula to carefully lift each cookie onto a cooling rack. Makes about 18 large cookies.

The link to the post is here.

Behind the scenes but in the middle of all the action

So this past Friday I had the opportunity to go see another side of the advertising world...the production side! Numantra was producing a commerical, photo shoot and radio for one of their clients, Carter BloodCare. I was so pumped to have the chance to spend ALL day at the production studio! And for a plus, I got to be out of the office the entire day. I had to be at the production studio around 9a.m. but I didn't really get to sleep in or anything because it was actually a few miles further than Numantra is from where I am staying. I didn't care though, I just plugged the address in on my Garmin and off I went...the beginning of an adventure :) I don't mind being in the car for long periods of time anymore, as long as I have wicked playing.

I arrived at Mobile Productions Studio around 8:50 and was a little worried I was going to be able to find the entrance because it is a HUGE warehouse, surrounded by other massive warehouses. I eventually found the entrance and with my vera bradley satchel on, I skipped inside. I was greeted by one of our Creative Director's at Numantra and she showed me around. I felt like I was in heaven! On one side of the warehouse there was the photo shoot set up and on the other side was the commercial shoot...which I have never seen before and was so excited to see! I have to admit that I was super nervous Numantra was going to make me to pointless running around and I would miss all the action. But Numantra is definitely different and they let me roam around and do what I pleased and observe what I wanted to observe. (I'm super lucky!)

To see the website of Mobile Production Studio click here.

The talent was suppose to get there around 10-11ish and so I just mingled and met others in the business. I met all the people in the marketing department for Carter BloodCare and let me tell you they are so down to earth and hilarious. I laughed so much that day and every second I had to pinch myself because I couldn't believe how much I love the field I am in. Wendy, the head of the marketing department at Carter BloodCare put me in charge of giving gift bags to all of the talent. I gladly took on the challenge and made sure each talent left with a bag in the hands. (she was very impressed by my dedication to my duty) Each talent that was chosen for the production was so thankful for the opportunity to do this for Carter BloodCare and it really showed how good of people Carter BloodCare has.

To check out Carter BloodCare click here.

Unfortunately there was an endless buffet of food during the day. I swear every hour, on the hour, the lady hired to make the food changed the food on the entire table. I think I gained 5 pounds in one day. She would even come around holding a platter of something...for example she brought around freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and would offer them to us. I just wanted to be like GEEZ please can you offer healthy fruit? But I also did kinda figure out that she took much pleasure in people approving of her food in front of her...which is why she would carry it around on platters.

Throughout the day I stayed in a room that had a TV hooked up the video camera to watch the commercials being taped. The talent was so genuine and they had such inspiring stories. Many of them had something drastic happen in their life that has led them to give blood. Many of them give blood every two weeks, some give platelets as often as they can. This one man was asked why he became a donor and he said because it is an opportunity for ordinary people to do something extraordinary. It really touched my heart. I really want to go give blood sometime...I don't want to wait until something drastic happens in my life that will lead me to become a blood donor.

The production of everything lasted until 9pm. Everyone that I told that to was in shock and couldn't believe I spent 12 hours doing that...but I loved every minute of it and would have been there even longer if they hadn't finished. I did such a good job of being in charge of the bags, Wendy let me take one of the extras home. There were a few blood donor shirts (I feel like such a fake when I wear it haha) and a suhweeet Carter BloodCare cooler. (that's going to the boyfriend)

Overall it was a fantastic experience and the icing on the cake to my internship. Now I must make it through 4 more days at Numantra, the only reason it will be difficult is because my mind has already started daydreaming of sleeping in and being home :)

Wish I had pictures to post, but I didn't want to be a creeper and take all this pictures of the warehouse...I have to remain professional people :) Hold onnn...I do have pictures of baby Tanner (Not that those have anything to do with that day haha)

Kiss me goodbye I'm defying gravity

It's been a while since I've posted, but there was just so much writing needed to be done that I have been putting it off. Here we go...


Operation Surprise Granddaddy was underway and Aunt Lori and I were anxious to make sure it went well. Aunt Lori designed cute invitations sent out to the whole family! I created a facebook invite and Aunt Lori thought that was so fun! (She really needs to get a facebook...she is always out of the loop on stuff haha) The plan was for Aunt Lori to visit Nonnie and Granddaddy for Wednesday, Thursday and to leave Friday without suspicion. On Wednesday June 30th I headed home to Cypress with my Aunt Lori. We left about 11am and it was non-stop chatting the whole way there. I was antsy all of Monday and Tuesday. I couldn't sit still in my little corner at Numantra.

 Saturday rolled around and my mom, Aunt Lori, Hanna, and I all worked to set up the house for the party.  My Dallas family arrived at my fam's house around 2pm. All of them were staying the night and it had been forever since they had been there! Of course right before everyone arrived I was slammed in the head with a MASSIVE migraine! I was stressed that I would have the headache during the party, but I was able to take some medicine and felt great for the rest of the day.

Everyone arrived at 4:00pm - so surprised no one was late! Nonnie and Granddaddy walked through the door at 4:15 and Granddaddy stepped in with his head down so he had no idea we were all waiting for him in the entryway! He thought he was just coming over for an afternoon visit with my family...minus me. When he looked up he was in shock! He was speechless and it was so awesome! He just stared at all of us and really didn't know what to do because he was so happy to see everyone. He ended up hugging us one-by-one and when he gave me a huge he told me he was hoping to see me on my short visit home and was really sad that he wasn't going to. I LOVED it! I really love my Granddaddy and my Nonnie - I am so blessed to have such loving grandparents that are very involved in my life.

 We were all instructed to wear red, white or blue for the party because we were taking family pictures and who else but me was in charge of pictures :) I had a blast setting up a little set in the backyard! We had bought fun props for everyone to wear during pictures. I probably was a little bossy when I was taking the pictures, but hey I got the job done. My precious boyfriend helped me out big time and took the big family picture...he is so good on autofocus :) He also did a great job of making tanner smile for pictures :)

We had barbecue and had cupcakes instead of a cake. We found this display design for cupcakes in a scrapbook magazine I had and it worked so well with the decorations! After we all ate our cupcakes, we sat in the living room and each had a chance to ask Granddaddy a question...mine was if you could go in a time machine...where would you go...he said Scotland. It was all video tapped and we are all getting copies of his words of wisdom. After we surprised Granddaddy yet again with a short slideshow of pictures from his past and the present...he loved it.

The party winded down about 8 or 9 and then I headed over to Ryan's house to visit with his fam! I hadn't seen them since May. So it was good to catch up.


In between all the crazy preparations and the party I of course made time to go see eclipse. Hanna, my little sister, works at the movie theater Silverado and was able to get us in for free - however we did sneak into the imax showing :) I made sure while I was home that I would have a relaxing visit so I left my precious macbook at Aunt Lori's and promised I wouldn't do any crafts. I think Ryan really appreciated that :) Ryan and I saw Toy Story 3 in 3D sometime that weekend and I was super disappointed...it could have been the obnoxious little boy that kept staring at me every time I laughed or the fact that he took off his shoes! Needless to say, it was a stressful experience.

On Sunday night My mom, Aunt Lori, Hanna, and I got all dolled up and we headed downtown to go see...drum roll please...WICKED! OH MY GOSH IT WAS FANTASTIC! I laughed the whole time and was so moved by the music! I recommend this music to everyone...yes even guys :) I am sad my Nonnie decided not come with us that night because she loves musicals and she would have loved every minute of it.  We bought the Wicked soundtrack and I have been listening to it nonstop since then. I sing it like crazy in my car and if you know me well I don't have a great voice so it is just brutal to listen to me sing that.

Some interesting info:

When we saw Wicked, Elphaba was played by Donna Vivino and her contract was up on July 8th so a new Elphaba is taking her place. We were so fortunate to have the opportunity to see her as Elphaba because her voice was truly powerful. To read about it click here.



It was a great little visit home, but I am almost done with my visit hear in Dallas and I'm trying to soak it in as much as I can before I leave.

How's that for a super informative post?

Advertising, advertising, advertising - always on my mind.

Here are some fun advertisements I've found recently:

ok to fill you in on what is going on with these bp logos...a site is having a contest to redesign bp's logo and contestants must portray three required elements listed above. The winner gets $200 and I promise you bp is not too happy about this.

Successful Mother-Daughter-Aunt Weekend

Well the past week went by crazy fast. I was busy on the last half of the week. I did a lot of writing and sitting in on meetings. On Friday we had our daily morning meeting, pizza friday meeting/presentation/update, our pharm exec ad meeting, and our Manegait video meeting...oh and I had to slip into a TKMG meeting for a few.

My momma came in to Dallas around 2pm on Friday, but I didn't get to see her until after work. I was so exhausted by the time I got home from work that I was worried she didn't think I was very enthused to see her haha.

Last week I went to Barnes and Noble and was on a hunt for a craft book. I found this WONDERFUL craft book for those like me who live and breath crafts! It's called the Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin. It helps you learn how to sell your crafts locally, globally, and online. I try to sneak a read or two in when I can at work during my down time. Speaking of down time, on Friday morning I decided to take the strengths quest that Tech tries to get its' students to take to understand our strengths. It took about an hour to take the survey and answer the questions. I had only 20 seconds to make a decision between two questions. If you are a Tech student and haven't taken that survey I highly suggest taking it because it was really neat to see my results.

Here are my five strengths:

ACTIVATOR

People who are especially talented in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

FUTURISTIC

People who are especially talented in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future.

ACHIEVER

People who are especially talented in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive.

FOCUS

People who are especially talented in the Focus theme can take a direction, follow through, and make the corrections necessary to stay on track. They prioritize, then act.

INDIVIDUALIZATION

People who are especially talented in the Individualization theme are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.

On Friday night we all went out to eat at a great restaurant called Houston's. It was delicious and I thought it was funny that it was called Houston - oh how I miss home :) We did a lot of chatting and hanging out when got back. It was good to catch up with my mom. 

Saturday, My mom, Aunt Lori, and I went in search for bedding for my apartment. I was so ready to get some grown up stuff and figure out what colors I would want for my room. So long zebra and hot pink! I found a GORGEOUS bed spread that is a light light light greenish blue. It reminds me of a spa color. I am going for a cottage, natural, earthly, spa look in my room. Somehow I am going to make all of those ideas come into one. We stopped by Linz's house and visited and I love to see my little cousin, Tanner, any chance I get :) He is so cute :) Then, that night we went to a movie at Northpark. We saw The Killers with Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigel. It was super cute and super funny. AND of course Ashton looked SO GOOD.

Today, we went shopping for Granddaddy's 80th surprise birthday party. We are currently decorating boxes that we will stack up to hold the cupcakes we are making instead of a birthday cake. I am dying to start doing crafts for decorations for my room! I will be getting supplies soon and posting them when I finish - so look for those.

BIG DEAL: I get to go home Wednesday through Monday to Cypress and I'm super excited. Gdaddy's bday party is Saturday so that is why I am taking off of work. It is going to be great having only 2 days of work this week and I am excited to see my family and RYAN :) hehe

Well, off to do some crafting...this week is the 6th week of my internship - CRAZY!

My gorgeous big girl bed spread :)

Had to try it out on my bed here in Dallas 

The best craft book EVER

Cute pic in the book that is SO TRUE :)

Over halfway done and yet to accomplish it all

So this week marks the 5th week of my internship! woohoo. Can't believe I have been interning at Numantra for that long. Monday and Tuesday of this week went by pretty slow and then today sped right up! I do love our morning meetings at 8:30am at Numantra, they are always so eventful. I did lots and lots of proofing today. I helped the copywriter proof a bunch of stuff for one of our client's upcoming gala for the fall. It's called the benefit of giving and the art director did a fabulous job on all of the invites/emails/sponsorship packages etc. I LOVE hunting for things to correct and edit...who knew I would love to do that so much. Oh wait I did :) In my newswriting class in the fall I longed to edit the other's students writing assignments when it was time at the end of our writing lab. I always wrote tons and tons of remarks and had so many editing marks on their papers and I would always get mine back and it would barely have stuff. I'm not saying that mine didn't need some serious editing, but the other students just didn't have as much fun editing and proofing as I did.

I can't wait to get all of my stuff printed to go into my portfolio. One of our clients partners with Walgreens for promo stuff, so if you are in the Dallas area soon you will be able to see some of the stuff I collaborated on in stores :)

Needless to say, I know I am in the right major and I can't wait to graduate and go places in advertising. I am soaking up everything this summer like a sponge. I have three more weeks left at my internship and then I will be headed home to Houston - until then I will continue to enjoy my time in Dallas :)

Oh ya I forgot - my Aunt Lori and I went to paint some pottery after I got off of work. We were pretty disappointed in the selection, but I found a cute mug to paint and what did do with it??? Paint it in THETA letters of course :) It was kinda a stressful experience for us because it was super hot and humid in the shop and the lady working there was a little crazy. We both got frustrated with our pottery and I decided to finish it another day, but Aunt Lori is getting hers fired and we shall go back soon and see how it looks.We ended our day at Olive Garden and it really felt like today was a good summer day :)